Chinese actor Yang Lixin walked the Duke campus this past Wednesday unrecognized by
most American Duke students. But
in China, he is a
major star of stage,
film and television, and wherever the actor went on campus, there were Chinese
students stopping to
get an autograph or a rare photo opportunity.
In the
United States for a theater performance of the play "Top Restaurant"
(Tianxia di yi lou) at the Kennedy Center, Yang took time to visit
Duke, where his son Eric Le
Yang is a senior theater studies major.
Yang Lixin's rise to fame can be attributed to his starring
role in China's most prominent sit-com, "I Love My Family" (Wo ai wo jia), produced in 1993, inspired by The Cosby Show. Yang
starred in many multi-part TV serials, including Dong Zhou Lie ("Romance of the Dynasty of Eastern Zhou"),
Cao Yun Ma Tou ("Battlefield on Jing Hang Grand
Canal"), and No. 100 Broadway, a
series depicting Chinese students and immigrants in Los Angeles. In 2010, he played a supporting role in Aftershock, Feng Xiaogang's film that broke all domestic
Chinese box office records. Eric Yang worked as an assistant director on the film and will continue working in the Chinese film industry after his graduation from Duke in December.
While visiting Duke, Yang spoke to about 80 Duke students and
faculty at an event in the Gothic Reading Room, preceded the day before by a screening of
"Aftershock" in the Griffith Film Theater. He also met with President Richard H. Brodhead and other administrators
associated with the Duke Kunshan University project.
Claire Conceison, a theater studies faculty member who
specializes in Chinese theater, organized the events. "Mr. Yang has been my 'big brother' in China since
1993 and is an actor of great integrity. He is recognized by virtually all
Chinese citizens, yet remains very humble and treats his fans like dear
friends. He is not only incredibly talented at his craft, but also a man of
deep intellect who loves connecting with college students. I'm thrilled he was
able to visit Duke's campus for the first time and hope he will be a frequent
visitor in Durham and frequent collaborator in Kunshan," Conceison said.
The visit was co-sponsored by the Duke Asian/Pacific Studies
Institute, the Departments
of Theater Studies and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and the China Triangle
Forum.
Pictured below, Yang Lixin with Chinese students who attended his talk in the Gothic Reading Room.
